MaameYaa Boafo

MaameYaa Boafo (/ˈmɑːmiːjɑː ˈbwɑːfoʊ/ MAH-mee-yah BWAH-foh) is a Pakistan-born Ghanaian actress and comedian.

MaameYaa Boafo
Nationality	Ghanaian
Alma mater	Hood College Rutgers University 2009 Marc Bloch University
Occupation(s)	Actress, comedian
Years active	2012–present

Biography

Boafo was born in Pakistan.^[1] She is of Ashanti (Ghanaian) ethnicity.^[2] She was raised in Sudan, Ethiopia, Geneva and Kenya, but is a citizen of Ghana.^[3][1] In 2001, after graduating from high school, Boafo travelled to the United States to study French and communication.^[1]

After graduating from Hood College in 2015, she received a scholarship to study acting at Rutgers University and earned her master's degree in 2019.^[4] Boafo did a study abroad semester at Marc Bloch University in Strasbourg, France.^[1]

Boafo made her acting debut as Asa in the 2012 short film Asa, A Beautiful Girl.^[5] In 2014, Boafo began portraying Nana Yaa in Nicole Amarteifio's web TV series An African City. Her character is a journalist who struggles to afford rent in Accra, analogous to Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City. Boafo noticed the role on a Facebook page, and because she was travelling she sent a videotaped audition to Amarteifio, who called a week later.^[6]

In 2014, she starred in Bus Nut, an experimental short film in which she read the words from the trial of Rosa Parks. It premiered at the San Francisco Film Festival.^[1]

In 2015, Boafo had a small role in The Family Fang. She appeared in the short films New York, I Love You and Olive in 2016.^[7] From 2017 to 2018, she starred as Paulina in the play School Girls, which was inspired by Mean Girls.^[8]

Boafo was nominated for the Lucille Lortell Award and the Los Angeles Drama Circle Award for best actor, and received the Drama Desk award for her performance.^[9] She played HIV patient Abena Kwemo in a 2018 episode of Chicago Med.^[10] In 2019, she played private investigator Briana Logan in the TV series Bluff City Law.^[9] Boafo portrayed Zainab in the TV series Ramy in 2020.^[11]

Boafo made a video in reaction to the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore titled "As Nina", as she reportedly bears a resemblance to the late singer Nina Simone.^[1] In addition to English, she speaks Twi.^[2]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	Asa, A Beautiful Girl	Asa Kolawole	Short film
	Tied & True	Roda
	Azure II
2014	When It All Falls Down...	Dominique
	Bus Nut
2015	The Family Fang	College student
2016	New York, I Love You	Viviane	Short film
	Olive	Ava Nuyame
2017	Where Is Kyra?	Casey
	The Blue Car	Mother	Short film
	Ibrahim	Aminata

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013–2018	Thru 25	Cassie	10 episodes
2014	Madam Secretary	Komoyo	Episode: "The Call"
	An African City	Nana Yaa	Main cast
2014–2015	Deadstar	Charice	2 episodes
2015	American Odyssey	Desk clerk	Episode: "Bug Out"
	The Blacklist	Lucinda	Episode: "Marvin Gerard (No. 80)"
	The Mysteries of Laura	Kimmie	Episode: "The Mystery of the Maternal Instinct"
2016	Conversating While Black	Renee	TV Pilot
	Beyond Complicated	Camilla	Episode: "As Told By Her 103"
2017	Iron Fist	Female receptionist	Episode: "Snow Gives Way"
2018	Chicago Med	Abena Kwemo	Episode: "Mountains and Molehills"
2019	Theater Close Up	Paulina	Episode: "School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play"
	Bluff City Law	Briana Johnson	Main cast
2020	Ramy	Zainab	Recurring (season 2)
2021–2022	The Mysterious Benedict Society	Rhonda Kazembe	Main cast
2023	Extrapolations	Lucy Adobo	Episode: "2070: Ecocide"

References

1. Meyerfeld, Bruno (15 May 2015). "MaameYaa Boafo, la diva de la websérie " An African City "". Le Monde (in French). Archived from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
2. "I am 100% african : Maame Yaa Boafo". Trends & Blends. 14 August 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
3. Kodjo, Cyprien (13 October 2014). "An African "Sex and the City"". New York Amsterdam News. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
4. "MaameYaa Boafo Bio". Broadway World. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
5. "Briana Johnson". NBC. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
6. Walker, Akilah (9 May 2014). "Interview: 'An African City' Star MaameYaa Boafo". OkayAfrica. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
7. Forson, Viviane (7 March 2016). "Diaspora - Télévision - MaameYaa Boafo : il faut s'affirmer tel que l'on est". Le Point (in French). Retrieved 2 November 2020.
8. Green, Jesse (16 November 2017). "Review: 'School Girls' Is a Gleeful African Makeover of an American Genre". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
9. Isama, Antoinette (19 May 2019). "'An African City' and 'School Girls' Star MaameYaa Boafo Lands Role in New NBC Legal Drama". OkayAfrica. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
10. Coulston, John Connor (3 January 2018). "'Chicago Med' Takes on HIV in Latest Episode". Popculture.com. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
11. Ali, Lorraine (17 June 2020). "Struggling Ramy character makes for smart humor amid questions of faith, commitment". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 November 2020.

External links

• MaameYaa Boafo at the Internet Movie Database